Sunday Story…The Critic and the Cheerleader

It’s that time again. The end of the year when we take stock of what the past year has given us…the celebrations, the highs and lows, the goals met and those that never came to fruition. 

Often when we look back over our accomplishments the inner critic comes out and camps on our doorstep. This is the guy who picks apart every little thing that you didn’t do, every failure, every  finish line not crossed. We need to put this guy out to pasture. He is not helping….not one little bit. As a matter of fact if you were in a relationship with someone who criticized, condemned, and complained about you constantly you would drive that toxicity from your life (wouldn’t you?)

Look, in any given time period some things will go well and others not quite as you expected. If I dwell on the bad the good loses its luster. All the less than stellar results are just lessons to be learned. In many ways those things are more important than things that went swimmingly. But you will need to keep your inner cheerleader busy helping you see those things.

Go ahead and assess your last year. Learn the lessons that were available to you but don’t stew about the things that weren’t right. Let those go without reservation. Look for the things that went right and celebrate all of them!

Kick the critic to the curb and let the inner celebrant have all the fun.

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Full Steam Ahead

Damn the torpedoes! This is often the approach we take early in life. All in, no quarter, life lived with the throttle wide open is often our default position when we are young. And it works for the most part. We have the energy, the enthusiasm, and the physicality to make it work.

But it is also said that wisdom is having good judgment. And good judgment comes from bad decisions. Recently I qualified for the fittest experience competition in January. After the online qualifier I placed 5th which was good enough (barely) to get an invite to come to Austin. But as many of you have noticed by my gimpy walk over the last few months I am not 100%. Will I be 100% by the end of January? I suspect I will be but that’s not the issue. The issue is how well can I train between now and then? And the answer is not that well. When we combine that fact with the fact that the CrossFit open and the road to the 2022 games begins at the end of February the best decision may be to let the healing process take a little longer.

In the past I would have thrown caution to the wind and accepted the invite. Although it would be fun to go throw down in Austin, it wouldn’t be smart and it certainly wouldn’t move me toward my long term goals of extraordinary health and fitness.

What are your long term goals? Is what you are doing moving you toward those goals? Or are you sabotaging the long term goals in pursuit of short term satisfaction. Sometimes the best course of action is delayed gratification…the fruit is always sweeter when it is ripe.

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Full Effort

Is Full Victory is something my coach used to say to me whenever I expressed dis-satisfaction in my performance. Those words helped me to focus on what was both important and under my control.

We are coming into a time when it is easy to lose focus…on your fitness, on your nutrition, on your important relationships. Many of us have conflicted experiences around this time of year. It is easy to fall back  into old patterns of behavior that we have spent years trying to shift. And when we do, we beat ourselves up for not doing what we know we are supposed to do.

Here's the deal…you aren’t perfect. You won’t eat perfectly every day. You won’t have a gold star workout every time. Sometimes you will be a jerk. Forgive yourself. Move on.

The idea is to give your full effort every chance you get. Real satisfaction lies in the effort. You won’t be first every time. You won’t be last either. Learn from your less than stellar performances. It is the effort that counts.

So when you fall off track ( and you will as we all do) acknowledge the misstep and decide to make another, better effort. Give yourself a pat on the back for doing it at all. Just the effort puts you so far ahead that victory is yours.

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412

 

 

Sunday Story…Excess becomes You

It’s that time of year again. Excess becomes the norm. At least the excess of things that may not be so good for you. Most of us don’t over-exercise this time of year but we often over-eat and/or over-drink. 

There are lots of strategies to help prevent us from overdoing our celebrations. I am not going to go over them here. What am I am going to give you is a strategy to navigate these next few weeks so you can emerge stronger and filled with energy to attack the new year with joy and purpose.

First...Love yourself. Stop beating yourself over the head for doing things you think you should not have done. They are done. Oh well. You did whatever it was now get over it. 

Second...Express gratitude...every chance you get. Have you ever thought about being grateful for the spaciousness to make bad decisions, learning from those decisions, and then moving forward? This is how we get wisdom...by making bad decisions and then profiting from the analysis.

Third...Plan ahead. Save some space for self-care before and after those events and times when you may consciously over-indulge. And notice I said consciously over-indulge. That leads us to the last thing.

Fourth...Be conscious. You are human full of foibles, faults, and face-plants. You aren’t perfect, none of us are. You are still loveable. You are not beyond redemption. It’s ok to be less than perfect. Just be conscious about it.

Enjoy every bite, every sip, every interaction. Then when retrospection has you wishing maybe you could have done things a little differently you can take that lesson to heart.

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Grace

It’s that time of year again. Parties, lots of tempting food and drink, tacit permission to over-indulge, spiraling guilt and shame over your lack of willpower over those temptations. What is the answer to the question of how will you navigate your way around those hazardous shores?

In a word...Grace. Your first step is to find within you the power of Grace. Grace will forgive your missteps. Grace will help you regain your power by allowing you to be charitable to yourself. You don’t have to just be charitable to those less fortunate than yourself. Charity begins at home, with yourself. Grace requires you to be kind...to yourself first. Beating yourself up for not being perfect is a losing battle. You will never win and you will continue to be swept down into a maelstrom of guilt, shame , and recrimination.

Grace is waiting for you. But you are going to have to dig in a little to find her. 

First...Love yourself. You with all your faults and warts. Get up in the morning and tell yourself...I love you. You are already perfect.

Second...When you step off the path (and you will, we all do), smile, forgive yourself, and step back on.

Third...Ask for help. The people who love you, love you no matter how many cookies you just ate. We will hold your hand, smile, and laugh and cry with you. And then we will recommit with you to hold our heads up and move forward.

Grace...try it, you might like it!

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412

Sunday Story...The Last Time

 I recently read an article that talked about  your “last time.” We never know when the last time we do something happens. Unless we are consciously setting something aside forever we may not know this is the last bee I will ever see, the last rose I will smell, the last time I will say goodbye to someone (unless we know they are really leaving the earth.)

So the “last time” gets relegated to memory. I can think back to the last time I ever did a scuba dive or shared space with my dog. But was that really the last time or was it just time before I did it again?

Here’s my take...you never know when this is the “last time” so developing the habit of staying in the present moment will help you appreciate the people, things, and experiences in real-time, as they are taking place. In the present moment and only in the present moment can I experience all there is to experience. 

The other part of being in the present moment is to express yourself fully in that moment, never allowing the moment to pass without expressing your gratitude and emotion for that experience. Being in the present also means having all of your being in the present as well.

Never allow a gratitude to be unsaid that needs to be said. 

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodsyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412

By the way, here’s the link to the article:

https://www.awakin.org/read/view.php?tid=2522

Sunday Story…Waypoints on your journey

You are wherever you are on your fitness journey. Yesterday I had the pleasure of watching one of our coaches hit a back squat personal record of 400#. It was a thing of beauty…nice and deep, straight back, good return. He’s been working for this for quite some time and yesterday all his hard work paid dividends.

 

At the same time, I had a young man in for a private session. He’s 12 and just starting his journey. Of course, the question was how long until I can do something like that? The answer is it depends. There are so many variables on this fitness journey.

 

I will never get to a 400# back squat. My journey is not taking me in that direction. That young man may get there in 10 or 20 years. Or he may never get there. It will depend on him and his level of commitment to his own journey.

 

Realistically where are you on your journey? What is your level of commitment to your goals? Are they just ideas and dreams or do you have a plan and a program to manifest those goals? Without a plan and a program, you will never get out of the garage to hit the fitness road.

 

Want a 400# squat? You can have one if you really, really want it. But just wanting won’t be enough. Commit to the goal. Make a plan. Follow the plan. Adjust the plan. Recommit to the goal.

 

By the way… you know I’m not just talking fitness. Right?

 

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412